In 1776, Thomas Paine set a revolutionary tone rejecting the King: "But where, say some, is the King of America? " as far as we approve of monarchy" in America the law is king."
The American Revolution replaced the authority of a sovereign with the authority of a written Constitution and a people who govern themselves. Paine's vision was the bedrock of the American Revolution, a declaration that no person -- not a king, not a president, not a general -- would stand above the law.
Today, nearly 250 years later, that vision is dimming, not because the words have faded, but because the institutions meant to uphold them have withered. And at the heart of this erosion is a truth too many fear to speak: we are witnessing the collapse of the implicit moral principles of the Declaration, the American promise of liberty under law.
The conduct of America's current chief executive recalls the cadence of the usurpations of George III, iterated in the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence. We have arrived at a George III moment.
July 4, 2025, a People's Declaration
When in the course of constitutional history, it becomes evident that the executive has turned from protector to predator of the republic, a decent respect for the original Declaration requires a recounting of the abuses, usurpations and betrayals now taking place and a statement of recommitment to those primary principles celebrated each Independence Day.
We reaffirm the Letter of the Declaration of Independence from 1776, as contrasted with the 2025 assault on the government of American people.
1776: "All" are created equal," the principle of inherent Equality. 2025: President Trump has acted contrary to this ideal. He has dismantled Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government, military, and public education systems, undermining the nation's legislated commitment to equality and pluralism, in great tension with the Equal Protection Clause, of the 14th Amendment. He has attempted to make illegitimate the social and political strivings of generations of Americans, and has punished institutions seeking to uphold principles of equality.
1776: "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted"." This declarative principle is mirrored in Article I, U.S. Constitution; the government derives powers from consent of the governed. Government exists to serve the people, not the personal will of the Executive.
2025: President Trump has:
Declared wars without congressional consent, in direct violation of Article I, Section 8: Congress alone has power to declare war, as well as its derivative, the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
He has initiated aggressive mass roundups of immigrants and citizens alike, resulting in detention of lawful residents and amid citizens being detained in error, undermining the 5th and 14th Amendments, the due process clause and habeas corpus protections under Article I, Section 9.
He has engaged in retaliatory defunding of academic institutions and students, undermining free speech and academic freedom, using an inherently misleading definition of "anti-Semitism" as a tool to suppress lawful speech on college campuses, punishing dissent, in an open assault on the First Amendment.
1776: "He has refused his Assent to Laws..." 2025: This president has engaged in unilateral military actions, bypassing Congress, disregarding constitutional and legislative checks on executive authority.
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